Bacterial repellence in suture materials is a desirable property that can potentially improve thehealing process by preventing infection. We describe a method for generating nanostructures at thesurface of commercial sutures of different composition, and their potential for preventing biofilmformation. We show how bacteria attachment is altered in the presence of nanosized topographiesand identify optimum designs for preventing it without compromising biocompatibility and applicabilityin terms of nanostructure robustness or tissue friction. These studies open new possibilities forflexible and cost-effective realization of topography-based antibacterial coatings for absorbablebiomedical textiles.